Body assist for toilet seat



P 15,1959 J. L. GRONDONA 2,903,714

BODY ASSIST FOR TOILET SEAT Filed Dec. 26, 1956 INVENTOR. John L. Grondona llnited Sttes Fatent 2,903,714 BODY ASSIST FOR TOILET SEAT John L. Grondona, El Cerrito, Calif.

Application December 26, 1956, Serial No. 630,635

4 Claims. (Cl. 4-254) The invention relates to medical recovery aids and appliances and more particularly to such devices as have been proposed for use in conjunction with a toilet for aiding persons who, due to illness or infirmity or loss of limbs, and the like, desire or require assistance in lowering their body weight onto a toilet seat and in raising themselves therefrom.

An object of the present invention is to provide an appliance of the character described which is light in weight and completely portable yet very strong and fully capable of completely supporting the user and which is designed for quick and easy setting up on a toilet and removal with equal facility therefrom, the appliance being essentially entirely self-contained and self-supporting so as to impose no significant load or stress on the toilet itself.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an appliance of the character described which is readily adjustable to and usable with toilets of various styles and sizes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an appliance of the character above which is composed of a minimum number of sturdily formed parts capable of giving safe and foolproof support for the user over a very long period of use.

The invention has other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings (one sheet):

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a body assist for toilet seat constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a plan View on a reduced scale of the device shown operatively associated with a toilet, the latter being shown in phantom lines.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of Figure l.

The body assist for toilet seat of the present invention and as depicted in the accompanying drawing consists, briefly, of a pair of vertical side frames 6 and 7 adapted for resting on the floor 8 on opposite sides of a toilet bowl 9 and having elevated hand-grips 11 and 12, a front frame 13 securing the side frames 6-7 together in an open back U-shaped assembly dimensioned for movement into straddling relation with and surrounding the front 16 and sides 17 and 18 of the toilet bowl 9, and clip members 21 and 22 carried by the side frames 6-7 in position and dimensioned for interlocking engagement with the top rim of the bowl 9 and cooperating with the front frame 13 to provide lateral stability for the assembly. Preferably and as Patented Sept. 15, 1959 here shown, the clip members 21-22 are carried by subframes 23 and 24 which are mounted on the side frames 6-7 for vertical adjustment, thus permitting a precise raising and lowering of the clips 21-22 into position for engagement over the toilet bowl rim. Also to aid the rapid and proper attachment and detachment of the assembly to and from the toilet, the clip members 21 and 22 are here pivotally secured to the subframes- 23-24 about horizontal axes and are formed with offset depending ends 26 and 27 adapted to swing, as suggested by arrows 28 and 29, to and from interlocking engagement with the rim of the bowl.

As another feature of the present invention there is provided at the base of the front frame 13 a pivoted floor-engaging foot plate 31 which extends forwardly of the device for standing upon by the user, thus taking advantage of the users weight to solidly anchor the appliance in place and in proper position for aiding the user. Preferably the front frame 13 is composed of a flat rectangular plate which is secured to the forward extremities of the side frames in a manner providing widthwise adjustment of the side frames for adjusting the clips 21-22 to the toilet bowl, and the foot plate 31 is pivotally secured to the lower end 32 of frame or plate 13 at the floor level, here by means of a pianotype hinge 33, the axis of the hinge extending horizontally along the lower edge of the front frame or plate 13.

For simplicity of construction, requisite strength, attractive appearance, and easy maintenance, the side frames 6-7 are here composed of loops of tubing of generally inverted U-shape having forwardly disposed legs 36 and 37, upper horizontally disposed intermediate portions 38 and 39, and rearwardly depending legs 41 and 42, the latter terminating in lower ends 43 and 44 adapted for resting on the floor 8. To add stability to the unit, rubber cup members 46 and 47 may be applied, as here shown, to the lower leg ends 43-44 to give a firm, non-skid, cushioned support for the unit on the floor. The horizontal intermediate portions 38-39 conveniently form the hand-grips 11-12 and also by reason of their length afford convenient arm and body rests. Preferably the portions 38-39 are bowed away from each other, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, to better accommodate the users body therebetween, and they may be padded or upholstered by the addition of coverings 48 and 49 for the convenience and comfort of the user.

The subfames 23-24 are here composed of single lengths of tubing formed into rectangular shapes having top and bottom rails 51 and 52 in the case of subframe 23, and 53 and 54 in the case of subframe 24; vertical fore and aft ends 56 and 57 in the case of subframe 23, and 58 and 59 in the case of subframe 24. The vertical sides 56-59 may be collapsed, as best seen in Figure 3, so as to provide exteriorly positioned concave sockets 61 for receiving and nesting with the arcuate periphery of the vertical legs 36-37 and 41-42. Threaded horizontally disposed studs 63 may be suitably alfixed as by welding to the vertical legs for extension through vertical slots 66 in the subframe ends 56-59 for permitting relative vertical adjustment of the subframes 23-24 with respect to the end frames 6-7, and the subframes may be tightly secured in proper vertically adjusted position by Wing nuts 67 threaded onto the outer ends of the studs and bearing against the subf-rame ends 56-59.

To afford widthwise adjustment of the side frames 6-7 to accommodate the clip members 21-22 to the toilet bowl rim, the front plate 13 is here secured to the forward legs 36-37 of the side frames by threaded bolts 68, 69, 70 and 71 engaging the front legs 36-37 and extending through horizontally elongated slots 72, 73, 74 and 75 in the plate 13. As here best shown in Figure 3,

a each of the bolts 68-71 is formed with an enlarged manually engageable head 77 which may be tightened against the front surface 78 of plate 13 as the bolt shank 79 is threaded through the wall of the tubing forming the legs 36-67.

Preferably the clips 21-22 and the foot plate 31 are coated with a soft rubber or plastic covering to provide protection for the normally vitreous, ceramic or cementitious material with which they are engaged and to afford a better and more secure anchorage of the appliance.

As will be observed, the device may be quickly and easily set up in operative position on a toilet by moving the open frame into place, as depicted in Figure 2, and adjusting the width-wise separation of the side frames and the vertical positioning of the subframes so as to bring the clips 2122 into proper engagement with the rim of the toilet bowl when the clips are swung to lowered substantially horizontal position. Once so adjusted, the appliance may be readily removed from the toilet bowl by merely lifting the clips, and the appliance may with equal facility be set up on all toilets of the same style and size, as will for example be found convenient in general hospital use. if desired the appliance may be disassembled and stored in fiat, compact form by removing the front plate 13 from the side frames 67 and folding up of the foot plate 31.

I claim:

1. A body assist for a toilet seat comprising, a pair of vertical side frames adapted for resting on the floor on opposite sides of a toilet bowl and having elevated hand grips, a front frame securing said side frames together in an open back U-shaped assembly dimensioned for movement into straddling relation with and surrounding the front and sides of the toilet bowl, and clip members carried by said side frames in position and dimensioned for interlocking lateral engagement with the sides of the rim of the bowl and being fastened to said side frames to prevent lateral movement of said side frames away from said bowl to thereby cooperate with said front frame to provide lateral stability for said assembly.

2. A body assist for a toilet seat comprising, a pair of vertical side frames adapted for resting on the floor on opposite sides of a toilet bowl and having elevated handgrips, a front frame securing said side frames together in an open back U-shaped assembly dimensioned for movement into straddling relation With and surrounding the front and sides of the toilet bowl, subframes carried by said side frames for vertical adjustment, and clip members carried by said subframes and dimensioned for interlocking lateral engagement with the sides of the rim of the bowl and being fastened to said side frames to prevent lateral movement of said side frames away from said bowl to thereby cooperate with said front frame to provide lateral stability for said assembly.

3. A body assist for a toilet seat comprising, a pair of vertical side frames adapted for resting on the floor on opposite sides of a toilet bowl and having elevated hand grips, a front frame securing said side frames together in an open back U-shaped assembly dimensioned for movement into straddling relation with and surrounding the front and sides of the toilet bowl, sub frames carried by said side frames for vertical adjustment, and clip members pivotally secured to said subframes about fore and aft horizontal axes and formed with offset depending ends adapted to swing to and from interlocking lateral engagement with the sides of the rim of the bowl so as to prevent lateral movement of said side frames away from said bowl to thereby cooperate and with said front frame to provide lateral stability for said assembly.

4. A body assist for a toilet seat comprising, a toilet bowl having an open top bounded by a top rim, an annular toilet seat member normally superimposed on said bowl rim and hinged at the back thereof to the back of said bowl a pair of vertical side frames adapted for resting on the floor on opposite sides of said bowl and having elevated hand-grips, a front frame securing said side frames together in an open back U-shaped assembly mounted in straddling relation with and surrounding the front and sides of said bowl and adapted for free raising and lowering of said seat member, and clip memberssecured to said side frames and mounted in interlocking lateral engagement with the sides of said rim to prevent lateral movement of said side frames away from said bowl and cooperating with said front frame to provide lateral stability for said assembly, said clip members being disposed on said side frames for interlocking vertical engagement between said bowl rim and said seat member for clamping retention therebetween when said seat member is lowered and particularly when the weight of a peson is superimposed thereon, thus securing the stability of said frame assembly in the vertical and lateral directions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,276 Wolff Aug. 1, 1905 806,176 Oakley Dec. 5, 1905 1,132,939 Jaubard Mar. 23, 1915 1,638,040 Killen Aug. 9, 1927 2,773,542 Chasin Dec. '11, 1956 

